Giants GM Joe Schoen says Daniel Jones is starter when healthy, team will address QB position in offseason

The first year of Daniel Jones‘ four-year, $160 million contract didn’t provide a quality return on investment.

Jones managed to complete 108 out of 160 attempted passes for 909 yards, including two touchdowns and six interceptions. In six games, he was sacked 30 times, averaging five sacks per game. Despite running 40 times for 206 yards and a touchdown, the relentless pressure from opposing defenses prevented him from establishing a comfortable rhythm for playmaking. His struggles, exemplified by his career-low 70.5 passer rating, cannot be solely attributed to him, yet he was unable to counter the unfavorable circumstances.

Giants general manager Joe Schoen hasn’t lost faith in Jones, even after Jones’ first campaign played under a lucrative contract was a flop, concluding with a season-ending ACL injury suffered in early November.

“On Monday, Schoen informed reporters that Jones is set to aggressively tackle his path back to the field. He said, ‘If you all are familiar with Daniel and his work ethic, you’d know he’s the type of person we might need to restrain a bit.'”

We anticipate that Daniel will serve as our starting quarterback when he is in good health. However, we cannot predict the trajectory of his rehabilitation. The outcomes of these surgeries can vary significantly, with factors such as knee swelling or potential setbacks. Though we cannot foresee the future, our main expectation moving forward is that he will assume his role as a starting quarterback once he is fully recovered.

There’s reason to question how the Giants might proceed at quarterback. New York took a significant step back after overachieving en route to the playoffs in 2022, and even after defeating New England on Sunday, the Giants remain in a tie for last place in the NFC East at 4-8. Rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito, an undrafted free agent who wasn’t expected to see the field at all in 2023, has led New York to two straight wins, a feat Jones could not complete before his season ended.

Before his departure, Jones was not in a favorable situation. He was inadequately shielded by New York, who demonstrated to be a struggling team during a challenging first six weeks. During this period, the Giants suffered losses against the Cowboys (currently 8-3), 49ers (8-3), Seahawks (6-5), Dolphins (8-3), and Bills (6-6). Their only victory in this timeframe was against the underperforming Arizona Cardinals, which necessitated a desperate second-half rally to achieve.

A straightforward person would acknowledge that the victories with DeVito weren’t the most impressive. The issues with the Giants go beyond the quarterback position. However, since it’s the most crucial role in the sport and Jones is now earning significantly more than he did last year, he will continue to be scrutinized closely.

Additionally, he’s a subject of discussion due to the 2024 prospects for the Giants. Despite their 4-8 record, they still hold a chance to secure a high pick in the 2024 draft.

NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport on Nov. 12 that Schoen has attended games featuring some of college football’s top passers this season.

It isn’t assured that Schoen will use New York’s top pick on a quarterback. NFL GMs usually arrange weekend trips to places near their club’s Sunday game location as a standard practice. However, his choices have been intriguing, given the Giants’ current position in the disappointing 2023 season.

Schoen was given a chance to justify his belief that Jones is still the best quarterback choice for the Giants, and he provided a reasonable explanation.

“Schoen confirmed on Monday, “I’ve witnessed it. Everyone saw his performance last season; Daniel Jones secured 10 victories, including a road playoff game for the Giants. His preseason performances were equally impressive. We took an early hit and found ourselves in a difficult position from which we are still trying to recover. Despite this, our faith in Daniel remains unshaken.”

Jones’ contract is relatively recent. If they decided to part ways with him, they would incur a significant dead cap number ($33.3 million if traded before June 1, according to Over The Cap). Given that Schoen has had to extricate New York from a difficult cap situation left behind by former GM Dave Gettleman, shouldering such a hefty dead cap number could potentially hinder Schoen’s broader strategy.

The Giants have the option to retain Jones as a high-salary backup, but this could potentially limit Schoen’s efforts to enhance New York’s roster. This decision may appear hasty, given that Jones only participated in six matches in an injury-plagued 2023 before his season came to an early end.

Backup Tyrod Taylor did a solid job of keeping the Giants’ offense afloat in place of Jones earlier this season, underscoring the importance of having a veteran backup on the roster, before an injury forced the Giants to turn to DeVito. With this in mind, Schoen admitted New York will likely need to position itself for any scenario in 2024. The Giants don’t want to find themselves in the same place the Cardinals began 2023 while awaiting Kyler Murray‘s return from an ACL injury, either.

“We don’t have a crystal ball in terms of how the rehab is going to go (for Jones),” Schoen said, per NJ.com. “I think we’re going to have to do something in the quarterback [room], whether it’s free agency or the draft. We don’t know when [Jones] is going to be ready. We’ll have to address [quarterback] at some point.”

The act of making a draft doesn’t automatically imply that their top pick will be a quarterback. In order to provide Jones with quality talent, the Giants could potentially select a valuable player from another area. However, after personally observing several quality quarterbacks in 2023, Schoen may be enticed to use the pick for a quarterback in April.

“Schoen declared, “We’ll choose the top player available. We won’t hesitate to select him if the best player suited for our team happens to be in a specific position.”